SAMBÔ — Restaurant in England

I haven’t left a review before, but I will now, as it feels like there is a lack of respect in the replies to the reviews, which come off as defensive and disrespectful.

In the reply below that are referring to the same table that was served outside I will explain a bit more in detail why the review is genuine and not just misrepresenting.

Firstly we come through the door our partners sat outside in the garden area, we as in the partners got in about 10 minutes later, they initially been told we may not be able to seat outside if we are having food, which they replied that we are okay to be seated inside, the person that served went inside and checked with the manager, I assume, and we were told is okay to have food outside. There was no mention of payment after the order or before the food or drinks was bought out.

Then we sat down and literally one minute after we sat down the chef started coming out with the meats, we were still trying to get some salads from the salad bar as we were told there was not other sides we could have also there was not enough cutlery or plates at the table even after the second time we asked for more to be brought out.

Once the chef started coming out it was continuous for 10 minutes like running outside to the table and rushing to get us through the menu even with the card was flipped to red. While we were sat at the table in the corner with very little access we had the chef try to cut the meat to serve us and the waiter trying to push in and get us to pay the bill, the least and respectful thing to do was to at least wait for the chef to finish serving then ask us to pay the bill, or if not out of respect at least consider the safety concern as there is someone carving meat at your customers heads level.

In terms of food and unfortunately we were disappointed as well, even we though we were the first table that was served at dinner service the meat on skewers was already carved which was obviously indicative of being served left overs from the lunch service, most of the meat was without any taste and lacked any sort of seasonings, the chili beef was one of the meats that was already carved and was really tough and stringy also the gammon was the same dry and already carved. The honey pork was really dry, the chicken and bacon thighs missed the bacon and was again dry and stringy (tasted like petrol station chicken tikka out of sandwich), all you can taste on the lamb was the mint. The rump and the beef tenderloin was cooked okay but it was tasteless as it wasn't seasoned.

Unfortunately this is the honest review but I’m sure the reply will be defensive and just slightly adjusted for most of the others blaming us for not raising our concerns at the time which was after we have already been charged, it wasn't discount we went in for but a good dinner and nice atmosphere after a long hot day so nothing we could have said would’ve changed the food we already been served and they way we were already treated. I’m disappointed to see that in a serving business this is the attitude.

I have been to the Southampton location previously and the food the atmosphere and the service was totally different, unfortunately after the last experience in Weymouth we won’t re returning to any of...

We visited Sambô Weymouth for the all-you-can-eat experience and were extremely let down on multiple fronts — from poor service to lack of food availability.

You’re only allowed two hours at the table, which would be fine if the service was prompt and the food consistently available. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. After the first round of meat was brought out, the second round was marred by a staff member accidentally dropping the skewer on the floor. He told us he’d return with more, since not everyone at our table had received any — but he never came back. We waited over 40 minutes while servers repeatedly walked past us and continued serving every table around us, completely ignoring ours.

To make matters worse, during the first full hour of our visit, the female staff member serving meat didn’t approach our table even once. We had to eventually send someone from our party to speak to the manager — or rather, the person claiming to be one. She seemed overwhelmed, trying to manage the front door as well as complaints from other tables. She said she’d talk to the kitchen, but it took another 15 minutes before any more food came to us.

I tried to make the best of it and went to the buffet area four separate times, hoping to get something to eat while we waited. Each time, it was the same: empty trays. They had completely run out of basics — bread rolls, crisps, both types of cheese, and rice — and nothing was being replenished.

By the end of the meal, we felt thoroughly short-changed — underfed, under-served, and overcharged. When we raised our concerns again at the end, the manager begrudgingly removed the optional tip, as if that was doing us a huge favour. In reality, it barely scratched the surface of how disappointing the experience was.

All in all, terrible service, chaotic management, and a poorly stocked buffet. Definitely not worth the money or the frustration.

It’s easy for the restaurant to make up excuses when replying which in sure they will do but it’s also only fair they look at how the service was during this meal and work on better way they can communicate with their guest We have been going to this restaurant long before they moved location and have always promoted it to local family and friends but this time it didn’t not hit the spot with service or quality of food and then to not even try and fix the issue is a professionally it wasn’t about getting discounts as we wouldn’t of chose to dine with the restaurant if it was for the price but we would expect to have our money worth then we spent 40+ per person and had 7...

Salad bar was good. I had salmon it was very overcooked and I couldn’t even swallow it without drinking water. It came with stewed vegetables (they were not supposed to be stewed but that’s what they looked and tasted like)and asparagus on top which was like a twig and I couldn’t even cut or bite it. I didn’t eat it and when the waitress eventually came over she said was there a problem I explained and she took the food away. My partner had the meat and found it to be extremely fatty and grisly. He got offered all the same meats and even though there were different meats and sausages they never made it to our table at all. When explained this to the waitress she didn’t have an answer. Overall it was a terrible meal and when the bill came they had charged me full payment for my salmon and added a 20% service charge. Total bill £110. We got the service charge taken off and they said they served me my meal so I should pay for it!! I took off half the cost and paid £15 for it as I feel the salad was worth that. It was a very disappointing experience and very expensive for poor quality food and service. I will never go back. Its run by totally inexperienced youngsters with no knowledge of how to treat people or cook food correctly!

In reply to your response: The only reason why I paid only half the cost of my meal is because generally a good restaurant would normally not charge for a meal that was not edible! I don’t see what you have to investigate, it should have been investigated at the time when the waitress asked how was your dinner and I replied it was not edible. She replied oh shall I take it away then!! The cost of your food doesn’t reflect the quality which was well below standard! My partner is a big meat eater and tonight his side plate was piled high with overcooked, tough, grisly, fatty meat he couldn’t eat. Why do your staff ask how would you like your meat cooked? When you just have to take it...